I loved Beach Read by Emily Henry! This was the perfect escape for my mind right now and I loved diving into the story of January and Gus. The character development and the quick-witted banter made for lots of laughs and a good cry. I couldn’t put the book down and look forward to talking about it with others! Don’t miss it!

This was not at all like what I'd expected.

First of all, Beach Read is incredibly well written, with some of the best writing I've seen in romance. It's voice-y with extremely sensory prose; you won't help but be sucked in. That alone warrants five stars.

Then we have the first 30% or so that reads like a rom com with toooons of humor and banter. I was sucked in immediately. The best part though, banter aside? The characters felt REAL. Imperfect. Realistic struggles. In between the giggles and shrieks, I found myself hurting for both of them. The author does a good job of layering real problems in between the witty phrases and dialogue.

Basically we have January, a romance novelist, and Gus, her rival from college. After a really awful thing happens, a broke January moves to her dad's beach house that she only JUST discovered exist. She needs to write a novel so she can sell it. Fast. Gus has moved in next door. And he's rude. And kinda flirty. And he acts like his 'literary' novels are deeper than her romance books. But they make a deal to swap genres for their next book, and go on 'research' outings together which yeah, they're practically dates.

But then we hit 35-40% and everything changes. All the little hints hit home and the emotion quickly drags us (and the characters) under in a landslide of problems and insecurities. From here on out, it's HEAVY. And I mean so heavy that I had to sit it down multiple times because my poor tender heart, especially during this anxiety filled pandemic in the real world, couldn't take it all at once. I can tell this author has read Story Genius in the way the characters are approached. Early on, their misbeliefs about the world are stated, and continuously challenged over the course of the book.

Anyway if you're looking for an equal parts fun yet PAINFUL book, this is the one for you. Rest assured, though, because in typical romance novel fashion, the ending is great.

i don’t even reallllly know where to start with this one, & i mean that in the besssssst possible way. this book is as not at all what i was expecting & from the very first sentence until the very end of the story, i was wayyy invested. this is a story of love & forgiveness, of grief & redemption, of choosing to let people surprise you even when you think you have them figured out. it’s a story of family & heartbreak & falling in love when everything is else is falling apart around you. January & Gus killed me in all of the best ways, truly. i want Gus for myself & all his fascination for cults. (which, relatable who am i kidding) i suppper appreciated the depth that the secondary characters brought to this story & found it way refreshing to see them push the story along in the way only real, intentional relationship can. i think for me though, the reason i loved it so much was that this book was a true story of the brokenness of life & love & finding ourselves when we’re sure we’ve lost ourselves. this is deffff one of those books people are & will be raving about & for such good reason. it’s romance at its best - passionate, unintentional, real & full of emotion you can’t fake. this releases may 19th & it’s realllly going to be the perfect beach read. a definite ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5 from me! thanks to berkleypub & netgalley for this e-arc! whattta read. once i started, i couldn’t put it down

I wasn't sure if I would like this based on the description (and, to be honest, the names of the main characters - Augustus Everett and January Andrews), but I ended up really enjoying it. Gus and January have a history as college creative writing rivals, and they end up living next to each other for the summer. They both have some pretty serious emotional baggage, particularly January, and they each plan to churn out their next best-selling novel during the summer so they can get back on track financially and career-wise. Gus is a literary fiction phenomenon and January is a romance/women's fiction novelist, and they agree to do some "trading places" to try to teach each other how to write in their respective genres. I like the "lessons" January gives Gus in the tropes of romantic comedy, and the novel that Gus is writing about a local cult that ended in tragedy is pretty interesting. I would definitely read more of Henry's books.

I went into this hoping for a cute romance and my exceptions were blown out of the water. January’s outlook on romance is shattered when everything she knew was not what she thought it was and her writing took the blow. January and Gus have a past with each other and have landed in the situation of being neighbours. We get a tense vibe from these two, starting back in college when they would compete within their own program, only to pick up where they left off when reunited years later. January and Gus have now taken upon themselves to write in each other’s genre. I was drawn in from the start, reading January and Gus’s intense inner turmoil that they share with one another and the beautiful, tear-jerking romance that came with it. I can’t wait to get my hands on my copy and read it again.

If this book was the exact same but with a different skeleton in the closet this probably would have been a five star read.

“Beach Read” follows January as she struggles to adjust when her life comes crashing down after learning of her father’s affair at his funeral and on her quiet retreat to his beach house she finds that she and the neighbor have a history of competing to be the better writer and with nothing but misery to focus on they both decide to make a bet that they will explore each other’s genre but there’s no promise of a happy ending.

Okay to start I can’t stand cheating especially on someone who is going through a life threatening illness so her dad can fuck off.

That being said everything between Gus and January was amazing. Their rivalry that began in college and has extended to their adult lives was so entertaining especially their little scenes of nonstop banter as they traveled to different places to do research for the other’s book and I think those were my favorite. Both fully jumped into the others element and were willing to try and manage their own baggage while being the support the other needed and learned that sometimes things aren’t perfect but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t strive for that happy ending.

It’s ironic that there’s very little time spent on the beach for a book with said title but if you’re looking for something that offers a little bit of light on a rainy day this will be a perfect read for you.

**special thanks to the publishers and netgalley for providing an arc in exchange for a fair and honest review**

4.5 Stars-- The thing that absolutely sold me on this book was the authorial voice. I just loved the balance of humor and observation... 1000% worked for me. This book rides the line between "chick lit" and romance perfectly, and I was as invested in the internal character growth dynamic (e.g. the heroine coming to terms with her father's death & the shattering of the perfect image she had of her parents' relationship) as I was in the main characters getting together. This has a grumpy hero which I'm a sucker for, plus a "you think I've always hated you but I've actually always been hot for you" trope. On top of all these things that just work for me was one of my kryptonite elements: a strong meta quality. I loved the commentary on the romance genre in comparison to literary fiction, and I loved the respect the author clearly has for both types of books.

All in all, I had such a wonderful time with this one & would highly recommend

Don’t mind me, just going to lay on my rug with sunglasses and a bikini and pretend I’m not at home. Lucky for me, this was the perfect escape read! I could leave my living room through the pages and take in the problems of other people while leaving my own behind for awhile. It was great.

The story is told solely through the perspective of January, an author who’s father recently passed away and is facing some hard truths about her family and herself. I really liked that it was told from one perspective (I needed a break from multiple points of view), and that January was so easy for me to relate to.

I also appreciated the rival/enemies to lovers tension and heart touching quality of this story. It truly pulled me in from beginning to end. I laughed, felt some feels, and am grateful to have read this. Behind the humor and romance there is a great depth to this witty novel.
It’s rom-com literature gold. 💛
I give it 4.5/5 stars rounded up to 5 for this review.

I needed this book right now. My father just passed away and I could really relate to January. These were my initial thoughts when I finished it late at night: This book is for all of us. The ones who aren't sure that life & love will ever be okay. For the moments that are happy for now moments that we need to look forward to and look back on with smiles.

I did feel there were a few interactions between January and Gus were repetitive. But I liked how their feelings were buried under the surface and as they got to know each other slowly fell for each other.
I also liked the look into writers/author's lives and how January and Gus really challenged each other.

A really great book!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC!

I heard two mentions of this book in subsequent podcasts and decided it might be just the thing as I am cooped up on a snowy April day during a pandemic. I was excited to get an ARC through NetGalley. Despite the title, Beach Read, I found that this book had more substance than what I think of as the typical beach read. January and Gus were rivals in their creative writing program at the University of Michigan. We meet them a few years later as published authors who have each retreated to a beach community in Michigan to deal with personal issues and writers block. Their evident attraction for one another initially takes the form of verbal sparring about their chosen genres and past rivalry. Gus writes literary fiction and January is a romance/women's lit writer. To overcome her writer's block and defend her genre, January challenges Gus to a competition. Each will write a book in the other's genre and the first to get their book published wins. The guidelines for the competition include field trips which put the two together every Friday and Saturday alternately exploring romance trops and a cult tragedy. I assumed going in that these two characters would get involved. The additional plot lines with their family secrets kept this plot moving for me. I also enjoyed some of the fast paced dialogue-lots of sassy zingers. Some of the misunderstandings between January and Gus seemed unrealistic to me but I guess people often mistake the motives of others. Although I am not typically a romance reader, this one seemed less formulaic than others I have read. Overall the book provided a much needed diversion.

This book was so hyped by my friends on Goodreads that I couldn't wait to read it but honestly, I don't understand the hype at all. I found it a little boring and slow at times and just didn't seem to care for any of the characters.

I absolutely adored this book. I did not want it to end and I wanted to keep following along with January and Gus. Not only that but I loved the character's names and their personalities. This is a combination you do not often get. The only thing keeping me from a five-star review is that at times it felt that their conflicts were dragged on and I found myself skimming. Other than that, this was such a beautiful story about loss and trusting again. I will definitely be rereading this one.

Super cute! It felt a little long and like maybe there was too much trying to happen, but overall very good. Not your typical rom-com. I enjoyed & would recommend.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

You know that book on your to-read list that you just can’t wait to get to? Like, all the books that come before it could be 5-star-worthy, but you just want to get through them as quickly as possible so you can FINALLY read the one you’ve been waiting for? Beach Read by Emily Henry was that book for me. I’ve read Henry’s young adult books and loved them. And with all the stress and worry of coronavirus-quarantine life, I was really ready for a lighter story. Beach Read did not disappoint, except maybe that I finished it too quickly.

January is a romance writer who’s rosy view of the world is upended when a family secret is revealed. She tries to restart her writing mojo by relocating to a small beach town where she encounters her college nemesis and lit fic darling, Augustus. While their rivalry takes a playful and romantic turn, their pasts are not content to lie dormant for long.

I loved the banter between the protagonists, especially the note writing (a few of the notes had me cackling out loud). The behind-the-scenes look at a writer’s life was fun and interesting too. I liked January and appreciated that Henry made her self-aware and strong yet vulnerable.

Although I thoroughly enjoyed this book and finished it in about 36 hours, it didn’t quite hit five stars for me for a couple reasons. First, Gus just didn’t really attract me. It’s not that I disliked him. I just never crossed over into rooting for him. Maybe if we had a few chapters from his perspective, I would have felt differently. Second, there was quite a bit of repetition in the prose. I’m hoping the final copy is a bit tighter on the editing, but let’s just say that January’s face is always red/heated and Gus’s hair is always standing up messily.

I would absolutely recommend Beach Read to romance readers and those looking for lighter fare that’s not saccharine.

Beach Read is everything. Hot? Extremely. Funny? Laugh out loud. All-consuming? Hmmm....what quarantine, I have no idea what the news is going on about, Beach Read is my only reality. Fingers crossed that Emily Henry is planning to write more romcoms because this book landed her a top spot on my favorite authors list. A trusted friend enthusiastically recommended Beach Read to me, but I wasn't prepared to be so blown away by its humor, clever plot, and incredibly appealing (yet believable) love interest. Do not miss this one, it's a gem!

3.75/5 rounded to 4

Picking this book up was a result of my quarantine-stressed mind craving to go on a beach, drink pina coladas with tiny umbrellas while listening to the crashing of waves. While this book is more about what a beach read is than actually being a beach read, it served its purpose for me!

January is a romance writer who writes happily-ever-afters, while her neighbor and former college crush Augustus Everett writes dark books. Since both of them have a writer’s block, they both decide to guve each other’s writing styles a chance for the summer. Which means that Gus will write a cliche romance novel while January has to write a novel with heavy stuff. And they have to help each other out.

I really liked the beginning of the novel. January justifies and defends romance novels and their purpose cos it helped her get through tough times in the past. Her observations about romance novels being undermined and male authors being treated differently than female ones were spot-on. Gus’s character was dark and brooding and I really liked it until it was revealed that it was all related to his past. Just for once, I’d like to see a hero not having past issues, but maybe that’s just me 🤷🏻‍♀️. Also, his character arc was confusing since he goes from being Darcy-ish aloof at the beginning to a saccharine sweet, chivalrous gentleman at the end.
The chemistry in the first-half was off the charts, but I think it fizzled a little by the time I got to the ending.

This is a fun book but a lot more serious than the blurb might lead you to expect, but maybe that’s a good thing. As January believes and what is certainly a hundred percent true, literary fiction can

Thanks to Berkley and NetGalley for this eArc.

This book was great! I'd forgotten that I've read Emily Henry's YA titles, but from what I remember, this is a much more straightforward romance, missing the supernatural-ish elements that those books had. The protagonists here are both authors, January and Gus/Augustus/Everett who have been thrown together again a few years after knowing each other in college (emnistry!). They enter into a challenge to write books in the other's genre - January normally writes romance, and as she puts it, Gus normally writes "Hemingway Circle-Jerk fan fiction." This challenge means that they're basically almost in a fake dating situation.

Both of these characters have family and professional angst and the outcome of all of this and of the romance felt really satisfying. I also loved the author's sense of place. It made me want to see the lake (the beach here is on a Great Lake) in winter!

Fans of Linda Holmes' <i>Evvie Drake Starts Over</i> will love this one, and I think it is going to be a huge hit.

Beach Read is a different book than I expected. Maybe it’s because I totally judged the book by its cover and didn’t read anything else about it. I really love the cover itself, I’m just not sure it represents the book well. The story is much heavier on the “read” than on the “beach” – the two main characters are both authors trying to write their next book.

January is a fairly successful romance novelist, and she’s not having the best year. She recently got dumped by the man she thought she was going to marry, and her editor is pressuring her to send a draft of her next novel, which she hasn’t started yet. Then, her dad dies.

At his funeral, she discovers three things: he left her his secret beach house, he was cheating on her mom for years, and her mom knew about it the whole time. This leaves January confused, shocked, and feeling like her whole life was a lie, all while grieving.

When she goes to check out the beach house, she discovers that her new neighbor is her college rival, Gus, who writes deep, prestigious LiTeRaTuRe and turns up his nose at romance novels. They soon make a deal to each write a book in the other’s genre, to prove that it’s harder than it looks. The two may start as enemies, but this is romance, so we all know how that turns out.

I liked that this book ended up being different from what I expected. There is definitely romance, maybe a little predictable but it still felt fresh. There are only a couple “steamy” scenes, and it has interesting side plots and characters. I love when books have a story-within-a-story, and since we follow January and Gus writing their respective books, we get a few of those.

I recommend this to anyone who likes witty characters, writing, romance (but not much steam), enemies-to-lovers stories, and family drama. It was the perfect book to escape from reality for a while.

"Maybe we should enjoy our happy for now."

I absolutely loved this book. It's not your straightforward, light, quick-read romance (though it was a quick read!) -- it's so much more than that. The characters were wonderful, and even the characters who were only briefly in the novel had such depth and charm. And of course, as a book-lover, I thoroughly enjoyed reading about two authors who fell in love.

January Andrews is a good daughter. She stays by her mother through two bouts of cancer. She adores her father and believes they have the Happy Ever After family. That’s what helps her be a successful author of women’s fiction. Then her dad dies unexpectedly. She discovers he’s had a long-time affair…and a secret house in his hometown of North Bear Shores, MI. A year after his passing and against a writing deadline, January goes to visit the house, clean it out, sell it and complete her book.

Augustus Everett (Gus) went to the University of Michigan with January. Now a successful literary fiction author, January was convinced that he despised her and her writing. Did he really? When both are experiencing writer’s block, they decide to trade genres. The rest of the book is alternatingly sad, funny, and comforting.

This was such an enjoyable read for me! Henry kept me turning the page with her writing. It had me by the heartstrings as the relationship with Gus progressed and January dealt with the betrayal and understanding of her relationship with her dad. Such a great, wonderful story!